Unrelenting Light - Tori Amos -foorumi

"It' good to see some familiar faces," Tori Amos said from the stage at her SXSW performance Thursday night at Austin's La Zona Rosa. "I've missed you guys." Judging by the wealth of screams and flashing bulbs -- not to mention an unabashedly enthusiastic introduction by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton -- the feeling was mutual.

Amos kicked off her 45-minute set with 'Lady In Blue,' a new tune off her May 19-due album, 'Abnormally Attracted to Sin." In fact, she would debut three new songs, with 'Curtain Call' and 'Mary Jane' rounding out the trifecta. 'Mary Jane,' Amos admitted, was a true story about a teenage boy who asked his mother if he could spend the weekend with, well, Mary Jane. His mother, who was leaving town, thought it as a birds and bees moment. Turns out, dude just wanted weed.

The performance was Amos' first since 2007, and jumpstarted the promotional throes for 'Abnormally Attracted to Sin,' but Amos was sure to dish out some vintage favorites. Among them: 'Crucify,' 'Silent All These Years' and 'Take to the Sky,' during which she added a little bit of Carole King's 'I Feel the Earth Move' for good measure. But it was the last line that Amos belted of the night that served as both assurance and a warning for things to come: "She has risen."
Amen.

Tori Amos would have had the crowd at La Zona Rosa eating out of the palm of her hand Thursday night (3/19)--if not for the fact that both of her hands were far too busy doing other things during her stellar performance.

Amos spent most of her time facing--and playing the hell out of--a glossy-black grand piano whose lid was propped open. Behind her was an electric keyboard, and she occasionally spun 180 degrees to work its keys, as well. And if you think walking and chewing gum is a challenge, just imagine playing the keyboard in front of you with your right hand while stretching your left arm back to simultaneously play the piano behind you.

That in and of itself would have been impressive enough, but her work on the ivories wasn't even the main attraction; that honor went to her ethereal vocals, which she delivered flawlessly while accompanying herself on the two instruments.

Clad in a modest beige dress with her flowing red hair down, Amos kept the packed house rapt and mostly hushed as she worked her way through a 45-minute set that contained several tracks from her forthcoming album, "Abnormally Attracted to Sin," which arrives in stores May 19. Her charmingly quirky enunciation and heavenly voice (spiced up by an ample-yet-perfect amount of reverb that enhanced the otherwordly feel of her vocals) soared on new material including "Lady in Blue" and "Curtain Call," as well as a rousing rendition of her breakthrough hit, "Silent All These Years."

Her one-woman performance was a more-than-convincing argument for the school of thought that says "less is more" ... but it takes a gifted musician to pull it off. She did.